1. TEST REPORT Satellite Antenna for Multifeed Reception
TechniSat Multytenne
The ‘happy go lucky’ package
When the courier delivered a quite compact surprised, to say the least. This miracle dish
package (considering we were expecting a has a width of just 45 cm and should be able
satellite dish) from TechniSat to the sacred to receive four satellites simultaneously:
halls of our editorial offices just before the Astra 19.2° East, Hotbird 13° East, Astra 2
deadline for the current issue we were a little 28.2° East and Astra 3A 23.5° East.
We quickly opened the pack- rather futuristic. It would easily Another point worth mention-
age and started to assemble fit in any science fiction movie. ing is the fact that TechniSat
the individual items. TechniSat has optimised this dish specifi-
really did a great job here with It is fairly easy to correctly cally for the German speaking
its very comprehensive, logical align the antenna because only countries. Once the Multytenne
and easy to understand manual. Astra 19.2° East has to be found is introduced in these countries
Even absolute beginners should and all other positions are then TechniSat might present special
be able to assemble and align automatically be received thanks versions for other markets and
the antenna in next to no time. to the special multi-feed LNB. We satellite positions as well.
Everyday use from these two positions. The
Unfortunately the Multytenne reception of Hotbird signals was
arrived just before the editorial generally OK, even though we
deadline for the current issue, so noticed that of all four satellite
we did not have all the time we positions the signals from Hot-
would have liked to thoroughly bird were the weakest. Nonethe-
test the reception quality for all less, MCPC transponders with
four positions. We can, however, high symbol rates came in with-
give you a short overview of the out difficulties.
antenna’s capabilities:
On the whole it can be stated
As expected there were no that the Multytenne is an almost
problems whatsoever with the perfect compromise between a
reception of the strong satel- maximum of positions for multi-
lite positions Astra 1 19.2° East feed reception and the small-
and Astra 3A 23.5° East and all est possible antenna size. The
transponders that we scanned spreadibg of interesting and
and measured for testing pur- popular channels over differ-
poses were processed flawlessly ent satellite positions – such
and with a surprising good C/N as the moving of HDTV chan-
value, considering we’re talking nels to Astra 3A – or the quite
about a 45 cm dish here. large range of English language
channels on Astra 2 as well as
A slightly different picture the increasing number of erotic
The package comes complete should emphasise at this point emerges for Astra 2 and Hotbird. channels on Hotbird make the
with a wall-mounting device, that it absolutely pays to spend While all transponders of Astra Multytenne an interesting option
which is necessary because the some extra time on precisely 2A and 2B could be received for many households. Thanks to
Multytenne is not compatible aligning the dish towards Astra without problems, some signals its small size it will fit and work
with standard installation equip- 19.2° East, because an exact of Astra 2D and Eurobird did on any south-facing balcony.
ment and must be mounted on alignment makes sure that the not make it to the TV screen.
this particular device. The LNB
is specifically developed and
three other satellite positions
will be received with reasonable
However, this is not to blame
on the Multytenne but rather on Digit MF4-S
designed for this dish and looks quality as well. the weak signals being beamed You can use the Multytenne
TELE-satellite International — www.TELE-satellite.com

2. in combination with any receiver and offers English, German, The EPG of TechniSat receiv- which is absolutely reasonable.
featuring the DiSEqC 1.0 proto- French, Italian, Spanish, Turk- ers is another very handy fea- The perfect overall impression
col, but TechniSat sells the Mul- ish, Swedish, Portuguese, Rus- ture deserving special praise. of MF4-S is complemented by
tytenne package complete with sian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian TechniSat has its own editorial the built-in teletext decoder and
its own Digit MF4-S digital satel- and Dutch. staff for EPG information for all the possibility to use the multi-
lite receiver. It, too, looks very German language satellite chan- channel feeds offered by German
futuristic at first sight, thanks to The next step is a special fea- nels, which is downloaded at pay TV provider Premiere.
its simple but elegant design. ture of this TechniSat receiver: given times by TechniSat receiv- Multytenne LNB
from a list of 19 different coun- ers. The feature is called SFI and
On the front panel we find tries the user can select his allows for a very clear and com-
an LED segment display plus country and the receiver will prehensive EPG overview with
three buttons for controlling then automatically adjust all the option of marking events
the receiver without using the country-specific parameters for recording using a connected
remote control, as well as a card such as the local time zone. What recording device.
slot. On one side the box fea- follows is the antenna configura-
tures a Common Interface slot tion, which has no default set- Channel switching takes
and an RS-232 serial interface ting for the Multytenne yet and approximately one second,
for connecting the receiver to a has only Astra 19.2° East and
PC. Multytenne packages sold Hotbird 13° East activated right
in the German speaking coun- from the beginning. By clicking TECHNIC
tries also include a smartcard for on ‘Manual’, however, the set- DATA
reception of the TechniSat satel- tings can be changed to include Manufacturer TechniSat Digital GmbH
lite radio package. the other two satellites as well. TechniPark, D-54550 Daun
Germany
The back panel of this very The box then automatically Fax +352-710707-959
slim digital receiver (28.5 x 13 x checks whether new software is E-mail international@technisat.com
4 cm) features two scart euro- available over-the-air and if so Model Multytenne
connectors, two RCA sockets for downloads and installs it. The Function Satellite antenna for multi-feed reception
stereo audio out, the IF input for final step is the channel search of Astra 19.2° East, Hotbird 13° East,
the satellite signals as well as an and the MF4-S took a little less Astra 3A 23.5° East and Astra 2 28.2° East
optical and an electrical output than six minutes to scan an Antenna diameter 45 cm
for digital audio. The remote 80-transponder satellite. While USALS Yes
control has a nice touch and feel not being that fastest on the
DiSEqC 1.0 / 1.2 / 1.3
and is characterised – just like market, it certainly is one of the
Scart connections 2
the receiver and the Multytenne most thorough boxes and found
– by immaculate build quality. all channels. After all, you don’t Audio output 2 x RCA
do a complete search every day. UHF modulator No
Reception The logical main menu can be
0/12 Volt output
Digital audio output
No
Yes
After switching on the receiver used to adjust all major settings EPG Yes
for the first time the typical such as the video output (CVBS,
Power supply 180-250 VAC, 50 Hz
TechniSat installation wizard RGB or S-Video) or the favourite
appears on the screen and allows lists for radio and TV. Just like all
the user to customise the box other TechniSat digital receivers
step by step. The first and most the MF4-S is capable of down-
important step is the selection of loading pre-sorted channel lists
the preferred OSD language. The saving users the fuss of manu-
Digit F4-S is very international ally arranging their lists.
Expert conclusion
+ Installation wizard Channel list
With its Multytenne TechniSat offers a true ‘happy
go lucky’ package. Assembly is child’s play, the
reception quality of the dish is very good consider-
ing it’s a 45 cm antenna. The receiver that is included
in the package is easy to use and fit to please the Thomas Haring
TELE-satellit
whole family. You could hardly wish for more! Test Center
Austria
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None
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